Who would be the biggest deaths?

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Gavin Chipper
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Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

When David Bowie died, although he was obviously very famous and a big star etc., I was still surprised by the actual amount of coverage he got. The front page of the BBC news website had an extra big headline with a black background, and I don't recall ever seeing that before. I don't think the fact that he went out with my Mum a couple of times several decades ago should have added that much to the amount of coverage he deserved.

I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say I don't think any death has been as big in the news since Diana. Actually, how much coverage did the Queen Mother get? Dunno. Can't remember. Am I missing anyone obvious? Heath Ledger arguably got the most coverage in proportion to his actual level of fame, but that's another story.

So the question of this thread is - who, if they died, would be as big news or bigger than David Bowie?
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Jennifer Steadman »

Depends if we're talking a natural causes death or an assassination. Her Maj would be the most newsworthy natural causes death, Obama the most newsworthy assassination.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Johnny Canuck »

Anyone killed by aliens.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Mark Murray »

Madonna or Kylie
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Ben Wilson »

In music, Paul McCartney and Elton John would probably get the biggest press reaction (the only ones I can see getting as big a reaction as Bowie), but the biggest overall will almost certainly be the Queen, closely followed by Prince Phil.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Thomas Cappleman »

Mandela's a more recent one that I remember being very big. Can't think of anyone in a similar category (ex-politication/leader who still has that level of interest)
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Matt Morrison »

Did he seriously go out with your mum Gevin? No joking, we have another friend whose mum he went out with too. Obviously well into fucking mums. Small world.

On this topic, TIL that when the Queen dies, no comedy programming will be aired on the BBC for 12 days.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Matt Morrison wrote:Did he seriously go out with your mum Gevin? No joking, we have another friend whose mum he went out with too. Obviously well into fucking mums. Small world.
Yep. It happened.
Are they saying that her death will be so funny that no more jokes will be required for 12 days? That's pretty dark, and not what I'd expect from the BBC at all.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Jon Corby »

How could you not mention England's Rose (Jade Goody) in your OP Gev?
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Mark James »

In music it will probably be a big deal if Bono poppoed his clogs.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by JimBentley »

My music ones are:

- Rick Astley
- Either of the Reynolds Girls
- Turbo B out of Snap
- Either of Reel 2 Real, or The Mad Stuntman
- Daniel O'Donnell (although to be fair, it would be difficult to tell)
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Mark Deeks »

What about the biggest death of a C4C member?
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by JimBentley »

Mark Deeks wrote:What about the biggest death of a C4C member?
Charlie obviously.

Anyway, been thinking about this a bit more and there's got to be a few categories of "biggest" deaths. If you mean which would generate the most coverage, then it would surely be somebody not expected to die; if Rihanna or Beyonce dropped dead tomorrow, I'm sure that would be a massive news story for days, even though they can't really claim the sort of "legendary" status as Bowie. However, if someone like Brian Wilson or Keith Richards died, their deaths wouldn't be altogether unexpected (although Keef may possibly be immortal) and so would they get so much coverage? They're both extremely influential and would garner tributes from all and sundry, but would it be such a big story?
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Mark James »

All this talk of dead celebrities reminds me of Celebrity Death Pool. Anyone fancy playing for the year ahead? Lets say we have till the end of this month to pick our list (I propose 10 rather then 20) of the celebrities we think will die by Jan 31st next year. Just do it on here rather than that official website. Money doesn't have to be involved unless people are keen to make it more interesting.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by JimBentley »

Mark James wrote:All this talk of dead celebrities reminds me of Celebrity Death Pool. Anyone fancy playing for the year ahead? Lets say we have till the end of this month to pick our list (I propose 10 rather then 20) of the celebrities we think will die by Jan 31st next year. Just do it on here rather than that official website. Money doesn't have to be involved unless people are keen to make it more interesting.
I've never been a fan of Death Pool games as a lot of my picks would be people I'd be sad to see die, but I suppose if you insist that I absolutely must:

- Muhammed Ali (congestive heart disease)
- Glen Campbell (pneumonia)
- Billy Connolly (complications of Alzheimer's)
- Fidel Castro (natural causes or shock reveal that he's actually been dead for years)
- George (Herbert Walker) Bush (natural causes)
- Zsa Zsa Gabor (plastic surgery failure)
- Ronnie Corbett (natural causes)
- Clive James (cancer)
- Ian Brady (suicide through starvation)
- Peter Sutcliffe (murdered)
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Mark James »

Here's my provisional list. May change before the 31st.

-Paul Gascoigne (obvious reasons)
-Billy Connolly (as Jim said)
-Kim Jong Un (apparently he's losing his grip and could be susceptible to assassination)
-Ammon Bundy (Shot by feds)
-Regis Philbin (always seems to overcome health scares but I reckon one more could do it)
-Adele (vehicular accident)
-Charlie Sheen (not necessarily HIV related but that's increased the odds and he has a wild lifestyle anyway)
-Martin Sheen (heartbreak after Charlie goes, I'm hoping for a daily double bonus)
-That Steven Avery guy everyone seems to be talking about (He'll get shanked in prison or die comically after the petition works and he's released)
-Prince George (Hemophilia or Porphyria or something else royal. Just wanted a young'un in for the huge points available)
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by JimBentley »

Mark James wrote:Here's my provisional list. May change before the 31st.

-Paul Gascoigne (obvious reasons)
-Billy Connolly (as Jim said)
-Kim Jong Un (apparently he's losing his grip and could be susceptible to assassination)
-Ammon Bundy (Shot by feds)
-Regis Philbin (always seems to overcome health scares but I reckon one more could do it)
-Adele (vehicular accident)
-Charlie Sheen (not necessarily HIV related but that's increased the odds and he has a wild lifestyle anyway)
-Martin Sheen (heartbreak after Charlie goes, I'm hoping for a daily double bonus)
-That Steven Avery guy everyone seems to be talking about (He'll get shanked in prison or die comically after the petition works and he's released)
-Prince George (Hemophilia or Porphyria or something else royal. Just wanted a young'un in for the huge points available)
Can I enter twice? You've made me jealous by going for some speculative ones, which are always more fun, but I avoided because I wanted to be realistic. I'm going to enter twice anyway.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by JimBentley »

My speculative list:

- David Hasselhoff (car crash due to alcoholic impairment)
- Mark Zuckerberg (skiing accident)
- Narendra Modi (assassination)
- Tom Cruise (stunt goes wrong during filming)
- Oprah Winfrey (prescription drugs overdose)
- Prince William (suicide)
- George Osborne (auto-asphyxiation during sex act with prostitute)
- Miley Cyrus (publicity stunt goes wrong)
- George Michael (jumps out of window)
- Zayn Malik (heroin overdose)
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Conor »

Michael Jackson's death was pretty big. Fulfils both conditions of being 'legendary' and unexpected. The death (especially assassination) of any highly influential state leader will be high, along with the Queen. Maybe Justin Bieber too.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by JimBentley »

Conor wrote:Michael Jackson's death was pretty big.
AHHH but he's not really dead, it was all faked (the real Michael Jackson disappeared from the scene a few months before his "death" and was replaced by an unconvincing double). The real Michael Jackson, who is now completely white - almost an albino - lives on a special island with a coterie of young boys who are supervised by a specially trained team of monkeys. That's why the reaction to his death was a bit muted, because a lot of the press had known about this plan for a while but were afraid of speaking out because of the repercussions.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

A few interesting things have come out of this thread. I'd forgotten about people like Mandela and Michael Jackson. I think with Michael Jackson though, without meaning to sound harsh, he'd become a bit of a joke, and when he died I think most first people's reaction* was to look online to see what jokes there were about him.

On other musicians mentioned, I might be showing my ignorance, but I had to look up Brian Wilson. Paul McCartney and Elton John are a good call.

But yes, young people not expected to die would be a big story but in a different way, so we have different axes on the graph. Just like the Queen would in a way be overshadowed by Prince William if he died now.

*Well maybe not literally most people
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Steven M. McCann »

I might be going out on a limb here, but I reckon David Beckham, Tony Blair or Prince Charles going, might stir up a little interest.
As for the BBC having a blanket ban on all comedy for 12 days after the Queen passes, is it true they plan to put "Miranda" on a loop for the duration?
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Jennifer Steadman »

I don't think Brian Wilson or Elton John have as much resonance with younger generations as Bowie or McCartney (with regard to his involvement in the Beatles anyway), so I can't see him getting the same amount of adulation.

My list of predicted 2016 deaths:

- Salvador Sanchez Ceren (president of El Salvador, potential civil war brewing there - assassinated)
- Robert Mugabe (natural causes)
- Prince Philip (natural causes)
- Bernie Sanders (shot by pro-gun lobbyist)
- Madonna (heart attack)
- Dick Van Dyke (cancer)
- Bill Cosby (heart attack)
- Lindsay Lohan (drug overdose)
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Ian Volante »

Gavin Chipper wrote: he went out with my Mum a couple of times
Well my mum got into the back of a limo with Jimmy Savile. So there.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Mark James »

Dave Ricesky wrote:Alan Rickman dies aged 69

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35313604
Well Aaron Ramsey scored. It was always gonna happen to someone.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Ryan Taylor »

Matt Morrison wrote:Did he seriously go out with your mum Gevin? No joking, we have another friend whose mum he went out with too. Obviously well into fucking mums. Small world.
Pretty sure he fucked Slash's mum too when Slash was a schoolkid or something.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by JimBentley »

Ryan Taylor wrote:
Matt Morrison wrote:Did he seriously go out with your mum Gevin? No joking, we have another friend whose mum he went out with too. Obviously well into fucking mums. Small world.
Pretty sure he fucked Slash's mum too when Slash was a schoolkid or something.
Almost certainly true, he used to "work with" Slash's mum on "stage design" or something, if I remember correctly, which I always do except when it's with small but significant mistakes that could be construed - by someone of a mischievous disposition - entirely wrongly.

This reminds me of a story about a friend whose mum once went out with Richard Whiteley in the 1970s. Being kids at the time (the 1980s), as soon as we found out it obviously had to be made into a joke, the vagaries of which I forget (a giant clock was always involved and yes, I said "clock") but weren't all that important really, so long as you included the punchline "and here's Carol to show you how it should be done"...
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Jon O'Neill »

Steven M. McCann wrote:As for the BBC having a blanket ban on all comedy for 12 days after the Queen passes, is it true they plan to put "Miranda" on a loop for the duration?
:D
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

JimBentley wrote:
Mark Deeks wrote:What about the biggest death of a C4C member?
Charlie obviously.
But you also have Mike Brown - the granddaddy of the online Countdown presence.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by JimBentley »

Gavin Chipper wrote:
JimBentley wrote:
Mark Deeks wrote:What about the biggest death of a C4C member?
Charlie obviously.
But you also have Mike Brown - the granddaddy of the online Countdown presence.
That's true, and there's you of course, and Zef. Let's just hope no-one dies!
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by James Laverty »

JimBentley wrote:
Mark James wrote:All this talk of dead celebrities reminds me of Celebrity Death Pool. Anyone fancy playing for the year ahead? Lets say we have till the end of this month to pick our list (I propose 10 rather then 20) of the celebrities we think will die by Jan 31st next year. Just do it on here rather than that official website. Money doesn't have to be involved unless people are keen to make it more interesting.
I've never been a fan of Death Pool games as a lot of my picks would be people I'd be sad to see die, but I suppose if you insist that I absolutely must:

- Muhammed Ali (congestive heart disease)
- Glen Campbell (pneumonia)
- Billy Connolly (complications of Alzheimer's)
- Fidel Castro (natural causes or shock reveal that he's actually been dead for years)
- George (Herbert Walker) Bush (natural causes)
- Zsa Zsa Gabor (plastic surgery failure)
- Ronnie Corbett (natural causes)
- Clive James (cancer)
- Ian Brady (suicide through starvation)
- Peter Sutcliffe (murdered)
Already doing one for 2016 with 25 celebs. Not sure if I'll do another one
Definitely not Jamie McNeill or Schrodinger's Cat....
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Gavin Chipper wrote:When David Bowie died, although he was obviously very famous and a big star etc., I was still surprised by the actual amount of coverage he got.
On this, I was watching Newswatch on BBC Breakfast this morning, which is a programme where people moan about news coverage and people complained about how much coverage Bowie got, including I think 17 minutes on the 10:00 News. And I think they're right really. It was suggested that is was because the people who run the BBC are largely from the "Baby Boomer" generation. And really anyone under 40 or even 45 won't have seen Bowie at his heights and he would largely be a "historical" act.

But to be honest, I think they'd be right to complain about any story getting 17 minutes. Just because something is a big story, it doesn't necessarily mean there's more to say about it. Just repeating yourself over and over again and going to different people to say the same thing doesn't help anyone, whether it's a big name dying or a major terrorist attack. That's why the internet is better for news. They just have items for a long time to make the point that it's a big story. They could instead just say what needs to be said, but have big flashing writing saying "THIS IS A BIG STORY THAT WOULD HAVE GOT 17 MINUTES IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS".
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

JimBentley wrote:That's true, and there's you of course, and Zef. Let's just hope no-one dies!
Let's not forget you. I think you've been posting longer than me!
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

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Gavin Chipper wrote:
JimBentley wrote:That's true, and there's you of course, and Zef. Let's just hope no-one dies!
Let's not forget you. I think you've been posting longer than me!
Are we including your pseudonyms? (joking)

Anyway, all this death talk's getting me paranoid. Tom Baker was trending on Twitter yesterday and I was thinking "oh fuck", but luckily it was just because it was his 82nd birthday.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by James Laverty »

JimBentley wrote:
Gavin Chipper wrote:
JimBentley wrote:That's true, and there's you of course, and Zef. Let's just hope no-one dies!
Let's not forget you. I think you've been posting longer than me!
Are we including your pseudonyms? (joking)

Anyway, all this death talk's getting me paranoid. Tom Baker was trending on Twitter yesterday and I was thinking "oh fuck", but luckily it was just because it was his 82nd birthday.
Good to see I'm not the only one. Everytime I hear the BBC News app on my phone go off I'm thinking "Who's died now".
Definitely not Jamie McNeill or Schrodinger's Cat....
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Ian Volante »

James Laverty wrote:Good to see I'm not the only one. Everytime I hear the BBC News app on my phone go off I'm thinking "Who's died now".
Usually it seems to be someone that died in the last decade or so. I wish people would check things before reposting.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Marc Meakin »

Johnny Rotten
Morrissey
Dustin Hoffman
Bruce Forsythe
Bobby Charlton
Bob Dylan
Prince Charles
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by JimBentley »

Marc Meakin wrote:Bruce Forsyth
I think it's been conclusively proven using the Large Hadron Collider or something that Brucey is actually immortal?

Of course, that may have just been something I dreamed. I have difficulty separating the two things these days,
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Marc Meakin »

My dead pool for 2016
Rolf Harris
Stuart Hall
Johnathon King
Bruce Forsyth
Freddie Starr
Sir Alex Ferguson
June Brown
George W Bush
Honour Blackman
Debbie Harry
John Goodman
Malcolm McLaren
Alan Wells
Salman Rushdie
Bob Held off
Bill Cosby
John McCruick
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Marc Meakin »

My dead pool for 2016
Rolf Harris
Stuart Hall
Johnathon King
Bruce Forsyth
Freddie Starr
Sir Alex Ferguson
June Brown
George W Bush
Honour Blackman
Debbie Harry
John Goodman
Malcolm McLaren
Alan Wells
Salman Rushdie
Bob Held off
Bill Cosby
John McCruick
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

David Attenborough would be another big death, although with him it's largely right place, right time. He's essentially just a television presenter who got given the job of doing all the BBC's prime time nature documentaries. It could have been anyone. Well not literally anyone. He's got a sort of distinctive voice and is quite likeable.

On the other hand Patrick Moore didn't get as much coverage as I imagine Attenborough will. But Patrick Moore seemed to "own" The Sky at Night, like it was his programme, rather than him just being the presenter that got the job. Basically what I'm saying is Patrick Moore > David Attenborough.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

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Gavin Chipper wrote:David Attenborough would be another big death, although with him it's largely right place, right time. He's essentially just a television presenter who got given the job of doing all the BBC's prime time nature documentaries. It could have been anyone. Well not literally anyone. He's got a sort of distinctive voice and is quite likeable.

On the other hand Patrick Moore didn't get as much coverage as I imagine Attenborough will. But Patrick Moore seemed to "own" The Sky at Night, like it was his programme, rather than him just being the presenter that got the job. Basically what I'm saying is Patrick Moore > David Attenborough.
I loved Patrick Moore (especially his xylophone stylings) but I don't think the two are really comparable. David Attenborough will obviously be remembered for all his natural history stuff but - well, I reckon anyway - it was as controller of BBC2 that he was more influential.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

JimBentley wrote:
Gavin Chipper wrote:David Attenborough would be another big death, although with him it's largely right place, right time. He's essentially just a television presenter who got given the job of doing all the BBC's prime time nature documentaries. It could have been anyone. Well not literally anyone. He's got a sort of distinctive voice and is quite likeable.

On the other hand Patrick Moore didn't get as much coverage as I imagine Attenborough will. But Patrick Moore seemed to "own" The Sky at Night, like it was his programme, rather than him just being the presenter that got the job. Basically what I'm saying is Patrick Moore > David Attenborough.
I loved Patrick Moore (especially his xylophone stylings) but I don't think the two are really comparable. David Attenborough will obviously be remembered for all his natural history stuff but - well, I reckon anyway - it was as controller of BBC2 that he was more influential.
I just looked at his Wikipedia article and it seems I probably underestimated him a bit.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Black has died! Currently rightly top of BBC most read.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

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Gavin Chipper wrote:Black has died! Currently rightly top of BBC most read.
Just 53 I think, very sad. I know he's only remembered for "Wonderful Life" these days, but it's a damn fine song to be remembered for.

Hope this isn't the start of a "pop stars named after colours" death "thing". Someone had better be keeping a close watch on Green Gartside out of Scritti Politti, that's all I'm saying.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

JimBentley wrote:
Gavin Chipper wrote:Black has died! Currently rightly top of BBC most read.
Just 53 I think, very sad. I know he's only remembered for "Wonderful Life" these days, but it's a damn fine song to be remembered for.

Hope this isn't the start of a "pop stars named after colours" death "thing". Someone had better be keeping a close watch on Green Gartside out of Scritti Politti, that's all I'm saying.
All of Blue might die. That would be weird, especially if they were all separate events.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Marc Meakin »

Terry Wogan would be up there.........ooops
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

I suppose three big deaths in recent years would be Saddam Hussain, Osama Bin Laden and Margaret Thatcher. But these three (unlike Bowie and others) are famous for the wrongs that they committed so their news items would have been presented very differently.
Last edited by Gavin Chipper on Tue Feb 16, 2016 10:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Thomas Carey »

Gavin Chipper wrote:Obama Bin Laden
cheers maus
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Thomas Carey wrote:
Gavin Chipper wrote:Obama Bin Laden
Freudian slip obviously.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Paul Daniels. Massive.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Ian Volante »

Gavin Chipper wrote:Paul Daniels. Massive.
Nah, he was a shortarse.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Phil Collinge »

Marc Meakin wrote:My dead pool for 2016
Rolf Harris
Stuart Hall
Johnathon King
Bruce Forsyth
Freddie Starr
Sir Alex Ferguson
June Brown
George W Bush
Honour Blackman
Debbie Harry
John Goodman
Malcolm McLaren
Alan Wells
Salman Rushdie
Bob Held off
Bill Cosby
John McCruick
Malcolm McLaren died in April 2010.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Johnny Canuck »

Marc Meakin wrote:John McCruick
Had a mini heart attack after accidentally reading that as my username.
I'm not dead yet. In a rut right now because of stress from work. I'll be back later in S89. I also plan to bring back the Mastergram - if I can find a way to run a timer or clock through pure MediaWiki without having to upload to Vimeo every time.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Ronnie Corbett then. Along with Paul Daniels, I would argue the biggest death of the year so far, on a UK level anyway. (Musicians tend to be overrated relative to their fame when they die.)
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Steven M. McCann »

I know it's all a matter of opinion, but surely Sir Terry Wogan has been the biggest UK celebrity death of the year...........so far!
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Steven M. McCann wrote:I know it's all a matter of opinion, but surely Sir Terry Wogan has been the biggest UK celebrity death of the year...........so far!
Forgot about him. He'd be up there. All ahead of David Bowie though.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by JimBentley »

Gavin Chipper wrote:
Steven M. McCann wrote:I know it's all a matter of opinion, but surely Sir Terry Wogan has been the biggest UK celebrity death of the year...........so far!
Forgot about him. He'd be up there. All ahead of David Bowie though.
I think we're going to have to be prepared for a pretty steady conveyor belt of these. If you think about it, it wasn't really until the late 1950s/early 1960s that the whole idea of people being "stars" came about in any sort of meaningful way; prior to that the only real "stars" were the absolute megastars of the film industry who could be seen worldwide. But when TV started to become more a thing that people had than not, all sorts of other people became well-known to some sort of degree or other. And all these people would have been (to pluck a figure randomly from the air) 17 or over at the time, then they're going to be born in the early 1940s or before, so now in their early 70s at least. So I wouldn't be surprised if this year produces a good few more "big" deaths, as will next year and the one after; in fact, it'll seem like it's getting worse as time goes on.
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Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?

Post by Paul Worsley »

Not just TV but also music. All the stars of the 1960s are 70+ now. How so many of the Rolling Stones are still alive is a mystery. Chuck Berry turns 90 this year, and his death would be on a par with Bowie, at least.
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